"I think they're... Grandpa Senzaemon's granddaughters."
Sonoko Suzuki studied the pair of cousins and searched her memory.
She'd crossed paths with them at a financial conglomerate gathering not long ago, though Sonoko had never cared much for those events.
She rarely initiated conversation; people came to her. And Erina wasn't the type to ingratiate herself with anyone either, so the two had barely exchanged a word.
A flicker of contempt crossed Utaha's eyes.
Senzaemon Nakiri's little scheme was painfully transparent.
Erina sat rigid in her seat, squirming internally. Her grandfather had told both cousins the night before to find a way to build a rapport with Makoto Nishikado.
He'd even pulled strings to place them in Makoto's class.
The problem was that Erina had no idea how to build rapport with anyone.
Like Sonoko, she'd spent her entire life being courted. She had never once been the one doing the courting.
She might as well have been sitting on a bed of nails.
What do I do what do I do what do I do...
Alice, by contrast, suffered none of this anxiety. Those ruby-red eyes drifted toward Makoto in careful sidelong glances.
Her plan was simple: observe from a distance, wait for him to be in a good mood, then make her move.
"Kato, switch seats with me."
Airi Akizuki demanded, suddenly appearing beside Megumi Kato's desk.
Makoto had taken the same window seat as before, which meant he had only one desk partner: Megumi.
Every girl in the room shot Airi a hostile look. Some thought she was being overbearing. Others were already eyeing Megumi's seat, calculating. If Megumi agreed, they'd pounce next.
If Airi Akizuki gets to sit there, why can't I?
Megumi glanced at Airi in silence, then looked pointedly at Makoto. The message was clear.
"Airi." His tone dipped half a degree.
She got it immediately, her lips pushing into a pout. "Fine, fine. No switching."
The corner of Megumi's mouth twitched upward.
As the MVP of the "Weasel Breakdown Operation," she trusted Makoto to give her at least that much face.
Then the memory surfaced unbidden: the kiss Makoto had given her just before they returned. Her cheeks warmed.
Should I find a chance to ask him what that meant?
Footsteps echoed from the hallway, and every head turned. Shizuka Hiratsuka stepped through the door.
"Um... are you all... done chatting? Class is starting."
The sight of Iron Fist Shizuka reduced to a stammering mess drew stifled laughter from more than just Makoto. Marina, Utaha, even Hachiman couldn't keep straight faces.
This was the woman whose reputation for swift, merciless discipline was legendary across Shuchiin Academy. Now she looked like a startled quail. The contrast was absurd.
"Hiratsuka-sensei, relax. Makoto won't do anything," Marina offered from the front row with a reassuring smile.
Won't do anything... yesterday he carved a path of destruction from one hemisphere to the other...
Shizuka kept that thought to herself.
Utaha chimed in. "Sensei-kun can be unpredictable, but he'd never bully someone weaker. You're safe."
Smack.
A light slap landed on Utaha's black-stockinged thigh before she'd even finished speaking.
Makoto side-eyed her, watching the blush flood her indignant face.
"Who are you calling unpredictable?"
With repeated assurances from the girls closest to Makoto, Shizuka managed to calm down enough to officially start class.
The morning crawled by. When the lunch bell rang, Sadayo Kawakami, the teacher for the final period, didn't even bother announcing dismissal. She fled the classroom without looking back.
"School's not as fun as I imagined," Makoto said dryly. "The whole morning felt like a funeral."
"And whose fault do you think that is?" Megumi deadpanned.
Grrrrrgle...
Ran Mouri's stomach chose that precise moment to announce itself. She went red as heads turned.
Her appetite had never been small, and since becoming a Reincarnation Game player specializing in Taijutsu, her daily caloric burn and food intake had skyrocketed.
"Um... does anyone want to go to the cafeteria?" she managed, face still burning.
She usually packed a lunch to save money, but yesterday had been too chaotic for cooking.
"Totsuki doesn't have a cafeteria." Alice Nakiri seized the opening, finally finding her way into the conversation. "This is a culinary academy. Students cook their own meals. It's part of the training. Why would there be a cafeteria?"
Under the group's collective gaze, Alice gave a playful wave and struck an expression borrowed straight from a certain rival's cat-like smirk.
"Hi there! I'm Alice Nakiri. Lovely to meet you all."
She punctuated it with a wink, charm cranked to full voltage.
Even the girls had to admit she was adorable.
"Tch. Who's she trying to seduce?" Yumiko muttered, inexplicably annoyed.
"No cafeteria. So what do we eat?" Makoto asked.
"Yeah, what do we eat?" Airi echoed instantly.
Before Alice could answer, Erina shot to her feet.
A commotion rose from the hallway. Moments later, several people filed into the classroom carrying an array of professional cookware and fresh ingredients.
"Those are... the ones who were at the gate earlier..." Sekai Saionji blinked, recognizing them at once.
The same students who'd stood beside Senzaemon Nakiri to welcome Makoto that morning.
"N-Nishikado-sama..." Erina stumbled over her words far worse than her cousin had. "Grandfather said... from now on, your meals at Totsuki will be prepared by us, the Elite Ten. P-please... let us know if there's anything you need."
She couldn't bring herself to check Makoto's reaction. Head down, she immediately began lighting a burner and prepping ingredients.
"The Elite Ten... if I remember right, they're the top ten chefs in all of Totsuki. I've seen them in the news before," Hina Ebina murmured.
"It goes beyond that." Hayato Hayama picked up the thread. "The moment they graduate, every one of them becomes a centerpiece of the global culinary world. Even before graduating, they have access to society's upper echelons. Each of them wields real power. They can even vote to remove school staff... including the principal."
Yui, Yumiko, and the others gaped.
Students can fire the principal? That's insane.
Rindo Kobayashi, the Elite Ten's Second Seat, flashed a brilliant grin. Under everyone's stunned stares, she had a massive iron cage wheeled in.
Inside was a live crocodile.
Before anyone could process this, Rindo grabbed a cleaver and strode toward the cage, leaving the non-players like Makoto Itou and Sekai Saionji slack-jawed.
It's just lunch. Is this really necessary?
Itou had originally planned to switch classes. Sharing a room with a monster like Makoto Nishikado was a recipe for disaster.
But seeing Kotonoha here, and remembering the collective sneer when he'd claimed to be her boyfriend that morning, he gritted his teeth and stayed.
Moments later, Rindo returned with blood-soaked hands, holding a slab of crocodile meat. "Please wait just a moment, Nishikado-sama. When cooking for you, we must give our absolute best. If the food doesn't satisfy you... well, that would be a problem."
"And what happens if I'm not satisfied?" Makoto asked, genuinely curious.
Every member of the Elite Ten froze mid-motion.
"Ow!"
Terunori Kuga, the smallest of the group at the Eighth Seat, nicked his finger with a knife. Before the yelp could fully escape, the Seventh Seat, Satoshi Isshiki, clamped a hand over his mouth.
Even Rindo, social butterfly that she was, found herself at a total loss.
Come on, you're supposed to politely say "Oh, I'm sure it'll be fine" right about now.
Watching the silence curdle, Makoto laughed. "Relax. I'm kidding. Just cook whatever."
He didn't have Erina's God Tongue. His palate wasn't that demanding.
The Elite Ten exhaled collectively and resumed cooking.
While they waited, conversation drifted. Megumi, scrolling through her phone, spotted a headline: "Superpowered Individual Sighted Again in Ginza. Citizens Urged to Exercise Caution."
She tapped through, read for a few minutes, then looked up at Ran. "You took down a superpower user who transforms into a crab?"
The topic immediately consumed the room.
"Huh? Wasn't it Makoto-niisan who beat the monster?" Kokoro tilted her head from her perch on Makoto's lap.
Kotonoha had tried desperately to stop her, but Kokoro had wriggled free and planted herself there. Makoto didn't seem to mind.
"What crab monster?" Utaha asked.
Marina laid out the whole story for the group.
Ran added her piece. "Shinichi called and told me someone was causing trouble at the Ginza mall, so I rushed over. I didn't realize you'd already encountered him, Sensei."
A small lie. She already knew the full picture from Shinichi Kudo, but recalling her childhood friend's complaints about Makoto that morning, she decided discretion was the better option.
Criticizing Makoto Nishikado on moral grounds? Do you have a death wish?
Honestly, Ran had never minded Shinichi's chronic lack of tact before. She'd even found it endearing. But now she thought he genuinely needed to work on it.
She'd already decided: after school, she was heading to a bookstore to buy him a copy of Surrounded by Idiots. That walking disaster needed the help.
The Elite Ten cooked with their ears perked, catching every word about the new superpowered individual.
"Do you think... he got his powers from over there too?" Sonoko speculated. "Is there a jutsu that turns you into a crab?"
"Over there? Jutsu?"
The non-players, from the Elite Ten to Makoto Itou, grew even more curious.
"I've seen someone turn into a dog," Hachiman muttered.
"Who cares where it came from?" Makoto shrugged. "Could be other chosen people besides us, could be the world itself changing. Point is, focus on getting stronger."
The girls nodded. Made sense.
Itou pressed his lips together, dying to ask how they'd obtained their power. He looked at the ring of extraordinary, impossibly beautiful girls surrounding Makoto.
If I had that kind of strength, would that be me in the center?
The Elite Ten wore similar expressions of quiet frustration.
They didn't explain anything useful at all.
"Excuse me, is Makoto-senpai here?"
All eyes swung to the classroom door.
A blue-haired boy stood in the doorway, visibly nervous.
"Who's...?" The girls exchanged confused glances.
"Come in, Ishigami." Makoto waved him over.
Yu Ishigami stepped inside looking almost overwhelmed, but he didn't sit. Instead, he walked straight to Makoto and bowed deeply.
"Thank you so much for your help, Senpai. The police told me this morning they're dropping the case."
Earlier that day, officers from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police had come to question him about why he'd killed someone in public.
Ishigami refused to explain, unwilling to expose what Kyoko Otomo had done. He clenched his jaw and said nothing.
When they were about to escalate, Ishigami played his one card: "Makoto Nishikado-senpai fully supports what I did."
The officers backed down instantly.
Release him. Now. That man is above our pay grade.
The girls grew more curious at the sight of his gratitude.
"Who is he, Sensei? Why's he thanking you?" Utaha asked.
"Wait, aren't you Yu Ishigami? From the middle school division..." Airi's eyes widened as half-remembered rumors surfaced.
Makoto raised a hand, cutting her off. He looked at Ishigami. "Glad it worked out. Want to stay for lunch?"
A ripple of shock ran through the classroom and the crowd of spectators gathered outside.
What did that kid do to deserve an invitation?!
Ishigami bowed again, deeper this time.
"Senpai, please train me! I want to have power like yours... no, like the others here!"
The incident with Ko Ogino was resolved for now, but the turmoil inside him hadn't settled. The words Makoto had spoken before yesterday's battle still echoed in his head, refusing to fade.
He wanted to become that kind of man.
He wanted to kill every last piece of garbage like Ko Ogino.
The classroom erupted. Every student inside and out shared the same thought.
They didn't dare dream of Makoto's level, but reaching even the tier of the Akizuki sisters or Utaha would be more than enough.
The real question: how had these people awakened their powers?
Ishigami noticed the hungry stares and caught himself.
This is their livelihood. Asking about it in public is beyond rude.
"Start by getting your body in shape," Makoto said. "Standard athletic training. Nothing special."
"Huh? That's... that's all it takes to get superpowers?"
Ishigami stared. So did everyone eavesdropping.
If that's all it took, the Olympics would be full of superhumans.
"Train first. Then wait for the opportunity."
The current power framework was built on the Naruto world's system. Without being selected as a player, the Reincarnation Game wouldn't restructure your body, and you couldn't mold Chakra.
For now, physical conditioning was Ishigami's only option.
"Yes! Understood!" He nodded hard.
His trust in Makoto was absolute.
Everyone else wore expressions of naked disappointment.
That's a training method? The blue-haired kid's got screws loose if he's buying that.
Then Megumi pointed at Etsuya Eizan, who was hunched over his station among the Elite Ten. "Makoto, he just said you're stringing Ishigami along. That you'd never reveal the secret to superpowers because you're afraid someone might surpass you."
Every eye in the room locked onto Eizan.
His fellow Elite Ten members stared at him in disbelief.
"D-did he say that?" Terunori Kuga, standing at the next station over with bandaged fingers, gaped at the Ninth Seat. He'd been right next to Eizan and hadn't heard a thing.
Eizan looked like his eyeballs were about to crack his glasses. "No... I mean, how did you even hear that?"
His voice had been barely louder than a mosquito's whine.
None of the players doubted Megumi for a second. She was, after all, the ultimate specialist who'd maxed out both Perception and Stealth.
"Why, you little..." Airi was gearing up to tear into him when Ishigami was already moving.
Before anyone could react, he'd crossed the room. A kunai appeared in his hand.
Squelch.
He drove it into Eizan's chest.
In, out, in, out.
Squelch. Squelch. Squelch. Squelch.
With his back to the rest of the room, Ishigami spoke, his voice flat and cold:
"Just cook the damn food. No one asked for your opinion."